by Susie M. Arviso

Created on: August 21, 2010   Last Updated: September 25, 2011

God is there for those in pain. The wonderful thing is He is able to turn our pain into of badge of victory. With our cooperation, we will discover that God's love for us is more than able to handle all of our issues and problems, as well as our pain. God is the one who can turn lemons into lemonade.

Of course, God doesn't send us a magic bridge to cross over the difficulties and hardships. He takes us right through them and guides us in handling things with courage. Yet, He is there with us through it all.

When people view something as a threat,  they will treat it as if it were. They throw up their arms, forfeit any fight, let themselves feel overwhelmed and go into a tailspin.

Yet when people view things as a challenge, we will make efforts to adjust our own emotional state by using positive, faith-filled self-talk; choosing to trust God while we adjust our emotions and come up with a plan about how we will manage in the trial of the present moment.

This requires voluntary management of emotions. Faith in God assists us with this. The scriptures tell us that God is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Ps. 34:18)  This is a truth that we can place our faith in.

He is God; He loves us and His intentions for us are only good ones as the scriptures state. (Jer. 29:11) We do not need to fear or worry. In fact, the scriptures are full of instances where we are told to "fear not" or "be not dismayed."

We should stop to consider that these are not suggestions, but commands. Selah.

When King David was sad, He praised the Lord. He might have complained or whined first, but He ultimately praised God.

Being grateful for the good things we have in life and praising God ahead of time for deliverance from what is causing our present pain, helps us to stay focused in faith.

The scriptures tell us that God inhabits the praises of His people. (Ps. 22:3) The times when we are sad, we shouldn't forget to praise the Lord because that's how we usher in the presence of God. Praise elevates us into God's presence and power.

The Israelites brought down the walls of the city of Jericho by marching around it and shouting praises to God. God always sent the tribe of Judah first, ahead of all the other tribes of Israel. The name Judah - comes from the Hebrew word "Yhuwdah" which means: praise.

With God's people, praise comes before victory. A born-again believer is no longer in bondage like when they were unsaved. They are free to tap into His virtue

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